


shut up (this is love)

by Possiblyenjoyable



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Frottage, Grinding, Ling is in college but Greed is not, M/M, Mutual Masturbation, Slow Burn, anyway listen ling is literally the biggest fucking dork, as slow as it can be for only 4k words, they.....rly like each other ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-02
Updated: 2017-05-02
Packaged: 2018-10-27 00:00:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10797501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Possiblyenjoyable/pseuds/Possiblyenjoyable
Summary: Ling can’t work. He hasn’t been able to work for a month all because of his neighbor’s… activities. It seems like from the day that Greed moved in, he’s made a point to disrupt Ling’s educational life as much as possible. He’s living off-campus in a crappy apartment with crappy wifi and crappy heating and it’s all he can do to work up the motivation to actually do his homework. Greed coming home with a different partner every other night is not helping. Not at all.Or, the one where Greed is a bit of a slut and Ling somehow brings out the best in him.





	shut up (this is love)

Ling can’t work. He hasn’t been able to work for a  _ month _ all because of his neighbor’s…  _ activities. _ It seems like from the day that Greed moved in, he’s made a point to disrupt Ling’s educational life as much as possible. He’s living off-campus in a crappy apartment with crappy wifi and crappy heating and it’s all he can do to work up the motivation to actually do his homework. Greed coming home with a different partner every other night is  _ not _ helping. Not at all. 

The problem is, though, that Ling’s talked to Greed before. Not about  _ this _ , God no, but he  _ has _ talked to him and he actually quite likes him. He’s a little crude, more than a little confident, and has a tendency to be very blunt sometimes, but Ling finds himself - dare he say it - a little into it. He’ll admit to himself that he finds Greed physically attractive, and there have been times where they’ve been talking in the hallway or at the coffee shop they apparently both like to frequent and Greed has said something that made Ling think that he’s more than just inappropriate jokes and harsh language. He has a sweet side to him and Ling wonders if these partners he brings back to his room all the time ever get to see it. Maybe that’s what  _ makes _ them go back to his place with him. 

Ling doesn’t much care for the pang of jealousy that hits him when he thinks about that. He’s only known Greed for a month and already he feels a sense of possessiveness over who gets to see Greed’s soft side. Maybe he lets these people see it enough to coax them back to his place, but he doubts that they get to see it again after that one night. Ling gets to see it almost every day. He gets to talk to Greed in the hallway outside of the rooms and roll his eyes at his cocky remarks, jokingly spit a retort right back at him, and then smile happily when Greed crosses his arms and leans against the doorway before asking, in a much more friendly voice, “So, should I expect to run into you at the coffee shop again tomorrow morning?”

Ling always wants to answer with,  _ “Unless you suddenly stop having sex all the time, you'll probably see me.” _

Seriously. If Greed didn’t have such obnoxiously loud sex that it kept Ling from doing his homework and thus resulted in him staying up all night in order to finish said homework, he wouldn’t need coffee. But then, he supposes that getting coffee in the morning is also what lets him see Greed, too. It’s an odd dynamic.

For two people who just met a month ago, they seem to go on coffee dates a lot. Well, okay, technically they’re not  _ dates. _ Yet, at least. Oh, who is Ling kidding? He’ll never be able to score an actual date with a guy like Greed. From the amount of people that Greed seems to sleep with on a weekly basis, Ling doubts that he would consider going monogamous. Especially not for someone like him. 

(Ling thought for a while that his being a man would be a part of that problem. He soon realized, however, that the moans coming from the other side of the wall were frequently… male-sounding. Gender didn’t seem to be an issue in Greed’s book of people he’d consider sleeping with.)

This is why Ling finds himself lying upside down on his sofa at two in the morning, groaning and rubbing his hands down his face in frustration. His homework lies unfinished on his desk, the sound of Greed’s moans floating in from the other side of the wall. Ling has given up on pretending that he’s not even a little bit physically affected by those sounds. The first time, he’d felt nothing but surprise and irritation. But after getting to know Greed and developing what seems to be a goddamn  _ mountain _ of a crush on him, he’d found himself sitting at his desk with the heels of his hands jammed into his eye sockets while he listened to music through earbuds and thought about his grandmother instead of Greed making those noises for  _ him _ and not whoever he was with over there. 

Tonight seems a little bit different, though. Ling can’t hear another voice coming from Greed’s room, can’t hear the sound of Greed’s name being called or even the bed hitting the wall. Greed’s voice doesn’t sound quite as loud nor as urgent. As he forces himself into a sitting position to avoid all the blood going to his head, Ling wonders if Greed’s partner tonight is just unusually quiet. And maybe Greed is sick? That could explain why  _ he’s _ not being as loud as he normally is.

Just as Ling is standing to take another crack at his homework, he hears something that makes him stop dead in his tracks. 

Was that _his_ name?  
No. No, it couldn’t have been. He’s just imagining things. Wishful thinking.

He takes another step forward, and this time, it’s clear as crystal.

“Fuck, nng—  _ Ling.” _

Whoa. Okay, yeah, that was definitely his name coming from Greed’s mouth. Ling ponders the weight of this realization even as he stumbles and stubs his toe on the leg of his coffee table, letting out a hiss and a strained, “Fuck me!” as he catches himself.

The replied, “That’s the idea, sweetheart,” causes his breath to catch in his throat. He hears Greed laugh a little breathlessly. “Someday,” he adds through the wall, “when we’re face to face. If you can manage to say those words when I’m standing in front of you, I’m all yours.”

Ling swallows. He can’t find the courage to reply. Instead, he stands frozen by the coffee table as he listens to Greed finish with  _ his _ name on his breath.

What the hell.

It becomes a sort of… game, after that. Perhaps game isn’t the right word. Ling’s not sure what word he would use to describe Greed’s very apparent lack of strangers in his room while he loudly and unabashedly jerks it to Ling every other night. Sometimes it’s two or three nights in a row. And for a while, it’s sort of fun, in a really weird way. Greed’s waiting for Ling to break, waiting for him to invite Greed inside so that he can finally say those two words to his annoyingly handsome face. Meanwhile, Ling is waiting for Greed to break, waiting for him to get fed up of simply jerking off to Ling and actually asking him to join him for a night of fun. They might be going in circles, but Ling figures that one of them will break eventually. He can only hope that it’s Greed who does the breaking.

He doesn’t really know how to respond at the beginning. The first time, he’d simply stood in one spot in complete shock while Greed straight up imagined fucking him on the other side of the wall, not bothering to hide it. The second time, Ling had blinked in surprise at the fact that it was happening again before nervously pressing his ear to the wall and asking, “You know that I can still hear you, right?”

“Oh, yeah,” came the laboured reply. “That’s the point, buddy. You gonna do somethin’ about it?”

Ling had paused, his cheeks flushing a deep read. He was glad that Greed couldn’t see him. “In your dreams,” he finally said.

A groan from the other side. “Believe me, you always do a lot more than  _ something _ in my dreams.”

Ling had a hard time doing anything that required thinking clearly that night.

With every time that came after that, Ling got a little bit more confident, a little bit more cocky. The sixth time, he’d called out a simple, “Seriously? Again? Don’t you have  _ anything _ better to do?”

“Yeah,” Greed had said. “You. But you’re not here right now. Gotta make do with what I’ve got.”

The eighth time, Ling had knocked on the wall. “You should really get some hobbies,” he’d said.

“You should really get some earbuds if you hate hearing me jerk it to ya all the time.” Damn it. 

After another  _ fucking _ month of this, Ling decides that he’s going to implode. He himself has been avoiding getting off in response to Greed getting off to him just out of pure spite. He  _ won’t _ lose this battle. Not even in secret.

He’ll admit, though, it is taking a toll on him. When it’s not nighttime and they’re not bickering with each other through the wall while Greed gets off, they’re talking like everything’s normal during the day while they’re at the coffee shop or in the hallway. They’ve even started doing other things with each other, like walking  _ home _ from the coffee shop  _ together _ , or meeting up for lunch in between Ling’s classes, or even going to the movies. Greed even helps him with his homework sometimes when they’re out eating. They both know it’s so Ling doesn’t have to worry about it so much when Greed jerks off to him later, but they act as if that never even happens. And the weirdest part is, it feels natural. It’s not awkward. Greed is still a cocky piece of shit with a surprisingly gentle smile and a crude sense of humor. Ling is still as intrigued by him as ever, still a bit curious about his personality and more than a little endeared by the way he acts so tough and harsh but always lingers whenever they touch at all. 

He’s known Greed for two months. He knows he’s not in love, but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t think he’s starting to fall in that direction.

It fucking sucks.

He’s completely drained at this point, he thinks, if the fact that Greed is going at it with himself again and Ling can’t even bring himself to respond to his smart ass remarks is any indication. He just sighs, and for once he picks up his earbuds and plays his music as loud as he can manage without blowing out his eardrums while he curls up on his couch. He wants to break, he really does, but the truth is that he can’t get past this wall of anxiety in his mind that prevents him from confronting Greed and telling him that he wants him. Fuck, does he want him. And it seems like Greed wants him too, for whatever reason, so why can’t he just tell him that? Maybe it’s because Greed always seems to actually  _ get _ what he wants, and that pisses Ling off just a little bit. In this case, Greed wants Ling to cave first, and Ling doesn’t really feel like giving him that satisfaction. Someone has to teach him that he can’t have everything he wants.

He feels himself drifting off into sleep, forcing himself to snap back awake so that he can take out his earbuds and actually go to bed. When he stops his music, he hears an unexpected sound— knocking at his door. Ling frowns, setting his phone off to the side and shuffling sleepily over to the door. Without bothering to glance through the peephole, he opens it. 

He’s more than a little surprised to see Greed standing there, clad in a tight-fitting T-shirt and sweatpants and oh, it’s a sin for someone to be able to make  _ that _ look good. He blinks. “Uh, hi?”

Greed frowns at him, squinting his eyes. “Were you sleeping?”

“Almost,” Ling says in confusion. “I was about to go to bed—”

“What happened?” Greed suddenly asks. Ling doesn’t know how to respond, especially when Greed steps closer and allows a cheeky grin to grace his face. “Did you finally figure out a way to study without getting distracted?”

Ling scowls. “No, I just got tired of listening to you,” he says.  _ That _ makes Greed’s smile disappear quick. With a sigh, Ling turns and walks into the living room to tidy up his desk, leaving the door open. “You can either come in and talk to me about this or you can leave and we can keep pretending like it’s not happening until one of us caves. Your choice.”

He hardly hears the click of the door shutting. He thinks that perhaps Greed has left just like he expected him to, but he’s taken aback by the sight of him sauntering toward the living room.

“Alright,” Greed says calmly as he sits himself on the sofa, legs spread casually. “Let’s talk.”

Ling stares at him. “Alright,” he echos. 

Silence.

“Ling, are you gonna—”

“What is this?” Ling blurts, locking eyes with Greed. When all he receives from the other man is a blank stare, he groans and gestures wildly between them. “ _ This _ . What are we doing, Greed? What are  _ you _ doing? Why get off to a fantasy of someone like me when you could be doing exactly what you used to do all the time— sleep with other people? You could be getting the real thing, yet you’re settling for, well…” Ling raises a hand and wiggles his fingers. “That.”

Greed continues to stare at him with a blank expression. Then, he laughs.

Ling’s face reddens. “This isn’t funny, Greed!”

“Yes, it is,” Greed says with a grin. He crosses his arms over his stomach from where he sits. “Of all the things I expected to happen, you getting angry with me for jacking off to you wasn’t one of them.”

Ling groans in frustration, stalking over to the coffee table. “Well, I  _ am _ angry! I’m angry that you expect me to do exactly what you want just because you apparently want to sleep with me. I’m angry that we go out on what might as well be dates but we don’t actually  _ call _ them dates. I’m angry that you always seem to get what you want, and for once I want someone who wants me back but I can’t do anything about it because I don’t want to enable you and because I can’t get it out of my head that you could do so much better!”

Greed is quiet as Ling glares at him. It takes Ling a moment to realize exactly where he’s standing. How had he even gotten here? He doesn’t remember rounding the table during his rant to stand between Greed’s legs. He can see the hint of a smile on Greed’s lips as he looks up at him.

“You know you’re the first person I’ve met who doesn’t let me get away with anything I want?” Greed suddenly says. Ling’s angry expression falters. Greed’s smile spreads. “That’s why I fucking like you so much, kid.”

“I’m not a kid,” Ling says through his teeth.

“Eh, you’re younger than me. Which means you’re a kid,” Greed says. He full-on grins this time. “You fuckin’ kill me, Ling. Don’t you know you’re hot as hell? And you don’t put up with my shit,  _ and  _ you want me just as much as I want you. I put up with only jacking off for so long because I like going out with you just as much as I like the idea of fucking you. And that says a lot, I hope you know. I never bother going out with anyone. Just sex.”

Ling is speechless. He’s not so angry anymore, his irritation having gave way to something more like pleasant confusion. He blinks himself out of the trance he’s in, looking off to the side and pouting.

“Well, if I’d known all  _ that,”  _ he huffs. 

Greed laughs again. “Kid, you know how selfish I am. I want you, and I’m not givin’ up until I get you.”

Ling purses his lips, his cheeks flushing. “So,” he says slowly, “what exactly do you… think about when you’re, y’know. Doing that stuff.”

When he glances at Greed, he’s a little shocked to see the man’s face tinted pink as well. His grin is still plastered on it. He sits up a little straighter, leaning forward and staring up at Ling through eyelashes so long it should be illegal. 

“Well, for one thing,” Greed says, setting his hands on Ling’s hips, “you usually start off in my lap.” He tugs on his hips roughly, Ling having nowhere to go but straight into Greed’s lap, straddling the other man. His face flushes even deeper red, hands gently settling on Greed’s shoulders. 

Greed nods. “That’s right,” he says. “And then you usually get rid of this thing.” Before Ling can protest, Greed is slipping his fingers under the hem of his shirt and peeling it off of him. Ling finds himself complying, immediately lifting his arms to make Greed’s task easier. 

Greed chuckles low in his throat, admiring the sight before him. Ling turns his head away in embarrassment. 

“Hey,” Greed says in a strangely soft tone of voice. He turns Ling’s head back to face him. “I’m gonna take good care of you, kid. I promise.”

Ling feels himself relax, his hands coming to a rest on Greed’s chest. “I’m holding you to that,” he says.

Greed just chuckles again in response, then reaches up and pulls the tie from Ling’s hair so that the dark strands fall over his shoulders. Greed runs his hand through it and Ling closes his eyes.

His heart nearly stops when he feels lips on his neck, one hand in his hair and one hand on his waist. He fists his hands in Greed’s shirt, lips parting. 

“So much better than imagining it,” Greed mumbles against his neck. He nips gently at Ling’s adam’s apple and Ling moans softly, his hands relaxing before slipping around Greed’s neck.

“This isn’t fair,” Ling murmurs, eyes half-lidded.

“How?” Greed asks, his own hands gliding along Ling’s sides. “Tell me, Ling, how is this not fair?”

Ling gasps when Greed sucks lightly on his pulse point. “You shouldn’t— shouldn’t always get what you want.”

Greed snickers, tracing his lips upward so that they hover just over Ling’s ear. “You’d be a fuckin’ liar to say that you don’t want this just as bad as I do.” 

Ling gives up, shoulders going slack for a moment before pushing on Greed’s and forcing him back, forcing him to make eye contact with him. “You are  _ selfish _ and horrible and  _ selfish.  _ It’s no wonder your nickname is Greed.” He leans forward, pleased to hear Greed gasp softly when he delays the kiss the other man thought was coming. He smiles, his lips just ghosting over the other’s. “I love it.” 

And then they’re kissing, the last millimeter of space between their mouths disappearing as Ling surges forward with his hand fisted in Greed’s collar. He hears and feels Greed breathe out a, “Fucking  _ finally _ ,” against his mouth.

It’s filthy almost instantly, tongues sliding together and hands grabbing at everything they possibly can. Greed has to let go of Ling’s ass long enough for him to slide his shirt off over his head and Ling doesn’t waste any time in taking full advantage of sitting in the lap of a shirtless Greed. He’s been waiting two fucking months for this, two fucking months to hear the other man moan his name in close quarters. He knows now that it will have been worth it.

It’s when Ling grinds his hips forward that he finally gets what he wants. His mouth has moved to Greed’s jaw and he’s pressing hot, open-mouthed kisses along it as he slowly grinds his hips down on the bulge underneath him. He gasps, but Greed  _ moans. _ Ling can’t help but smile cheekily.

“Looks like someone was a little more desperate than they were letting on,” Ling says before sucking harshly at Greed’s pulse point. He grinds his hips down again as Greed lets out another moan, the sound getting caught in his throat at the action.

“Shut the fuck up,” Greed manages to gasp. “You know me, kid. When I want things, I  _ want _ them. You’re no exception. If anything, I only want you  _ more _ than anything else.” Ling pulls back at that, giving Greed the chance to press his lips to his collarbone. That shit-eating grin is back and Ling flushes all the way down to his chest at Greed’s words. “So fucking what if you’re enabling me? It works out for you too.”

Then  _ Greed _ is forcing Ling’s hips down on his own with a firm grab to his ass, rolling his own hips upward to meet them and sighing in relief. “You got no fuckin’ clue what you do to me, kid.”

“I-I think I might have some idea,” Ling breathes. 

It’s all going well and good, their hands refusing to leave each other’s skin and hips rising and falling to meet. Then Greed pulls back, making eye contact with a very flustered Ling on top of him. “How far are you willing to go?”

Ling blinks. He hadn’t thought about that. He’s so beyond backing down right now, but now that he thinks about it, he doesn’t know if he wants to go  _ quite _ all the way just yet. He presses his lips together, brow furrowed before gently taking Greed’s hand from his waist and pressing it to the bulge between his legs. He smiles.

“Just this,” he says. “Just touching. I don’t think I’m—”

“You’re not ready for the whole package,” Greed jokes, and Ling suddenly wants to punch him. Greed laughs at the look on Ling’s face. “I get it, Ling. Look, I want a lot of things. And I’m used to getting my way. But this is one thing that I take very seriously, and if you’re not ready for it yet, then we’ll wait. It’s gonna be one hell of a fuckin’ task, but we’ll wait.”

Ling stares at Greed, wondering for the thousandth time how on  _ earth _ someone so calloused and rough could be this sweet and considerate. “Did the others get to see you like this?” he asks, running a hand through Greed’s short dark hair. “Were you this kind to them?”

Greed pauses. “I was… decent, I guess. I didn’t do anything they didn’t consent to. But every single one of them was into rough shit, so no. I wasn’t like this with any of them. Don’t let that go to your head.”

Ling laughs, then— full-blown laughter that shakes his shoulders and makes him throw his head back. Oh, he  _ loves _ that. He loves that he’s the only one Greed’s ever been like this with. Sure, the others got rough, probably unforgettable sex, but Ling gets Greed’s  _ attention. _ That’s better than any amount of rough sex in his humble opinion. 

“Okay, now it’s my turn,” Greed says. “What the fuck is so funny about that?”

Ling just beams, leaning forward and pressing his forehead against Greed’s. He doesn’t say anything, just grins at the man beneath him. Then he kisses him and Greed seems to forget about their conversation, opting for kissing him back and pressing his hand harder into Ling’s erection. 

It doesn’t take long for both of them to have their pants unbuttoned and reached into, hands around the other’s cock as they breath hard into each other’s mouths. Ling can’t believe how  _ good _ this feels. He’s done this to himself many times before, but having the hand of someone you’re attracted to makes it  _ so _ much better. Every swipe of Greed’s thumb over the tip is enough to make him gasp, his other hand gripping the back of Greed’s neck as he bucks up into the touch.

When they both begin to near the end, Ling is pleased to hear his own name being chanted on Greed’s lips, his hand speeding up and tightening as Greed’s fingers stutter on his own cock. Ling presses their foreheads together and then, to Greed’s surprise, Ling removes his hand from his cock and swats Greed’s away from his own. He scoots forward just a little until their cocks bump together, and then he wraps his hand around both of them.

Greed nearly  _ whimpers _ underneath Ling, his hands moving to rest on the other man’s thighs. Their foreheads rest together as they both watch Ling’s hand slide along their cocks. It’s when Greed’s hand rests over Ling’s and his thumb slides along the tips that they both tumble over the edge, Greed’s name being the only thing passing Ling’s lips and Ling’s name being the only thing passing Greed’s lips. 

In the aftermath, all they can think to do is lean against each other and conceptualize about getting up and cleaning themselves off.

Ling feels Greed chuckle deep in his chest. 

“So,” he says, “should I expect to run into you at the coffee shop again tomorrow morning?”

Ling very much hopes so.

**Author's Note:**

> i cannot BELIEVE i wrote this. i recently rewatched fma:b and y'all. Y'ALL. i knew i loved greed. i remembered how much i loved greed from the first time i watched the anime a few years ago. but rewatching it made me remember just how much i fuckening love him and how PISSED i am that he died bc he and ling were so good together. anyway i did not think i would write fanfic honestly but then me and my cousin were talking and i found a prompt that sounded a lot like them and well,,,, this absolute shitfest happened. so here ya go, have fun, please leave comments im desperate for attention especially considering this anime came out eight fucking years ago.


End file.
